


Reconciliation

by Bored94



Series: Joi ga joy [5]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Memories, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:01:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29968143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bored94/pseuds/Bored94
Summary: When Gintoki, Takasugi and Katsura parted ways, they didn't do it on good terms. And how could they? The trauma was still too fresh. A couple of years after the war, Gintoki and Katsura meet by accident and have the chance to talk.
Series: Joi ga joy [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2181342
Kudos: 11





	Reconciliation

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Riconciliazione](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/774540) by Bored94. 



> I simply thought it was weird that they had never met each other even if they lived in the same city. So here...

The man looked around cautiously and came out of the shelter tilting the sandogasa to cover his face as much as possible. He had been keeping a low profile for nearly two years, ever since that damned war was lost and the bakufu surrendered to the invaders, so he was pretty sure he wouldn't get caught just because he decided to go and eat a bowl of soba. Moreover, in Kabuki-chō no one would have bothered him, that disctrict was a receptacle of criminals and good-for-nothings; no one would report him, even if he was a wanted man.

He was still lost in his thoughts when he noticed that another person was coming from the opposite direction, at the other end of the bridge. How strange. Usually, that road was completely deserted at that time of day. All his senses automatically went on alert, trained by years of war and clandestine missions. If that was a trap, he would be ready.  
Katsura stopped.  
There was something familiar about the man who was approaching.  
The samurai took a few tentative steps towards the stranger and widened his eyes. He was no stranger at all. He would have recognized that silver hair anywhere. Not that there was any need, not many people had a bush of wavy silver hair in Edo.  
«Gintoki, » he let out before even realizing it. He was seeing his friend from the firs time since... that time, but could they still call themselves friends after what had happened?  
The man looked up and stopped. The expression on his face was difficult to decipher: for a split second, the ronin thought he saw a spark of surprise in the silver-haired samurai's eyes, but now all recognition was gone, hidden behind an apathetic mask.  
Katsura Kotarō wasn't easily impressed, but he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in front of that blank expression, those weren't the eyes of the arrogant and outgoing boy he grew up with. Did the war break him in the end?  
_No_ , the jōi corrected himself, _it wasn't the war._  
The black-haired man pushed back the memories of that day that were trying to resurface. He had been burying them for two years now, he had no intention of reliving those events again. Not now that they had finally started giving him a break. He came back to reality when he felt one of Gintoki's arms around his shoulders.  
«Zuraaaaaa, long time no see!» a whiff of alcohol hit the ronin. Katsura hurled Gin over the bridge railing, throwing him straight into the river.  
«I'm not Zura, I'm Katsura!» he yelled at him, and he jumped off the bridge too for good measure. He had realized that shouting his name in the middle of the city, although the inhabitants were inclined to ignore criminals and terrorists, was not a very smart idea. He landed near Gin, who was busy trying not to drown.  
The rebel known as the Rampaging Noble sighed. In that moment he didn't feel like a legendary general and a notorious terrorist, but much more like the teenager who back in the days used to keep in check the hyperactivity of those idiots of his comrades. He punched Gintoki on the head and lifted him up, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. «You can touch, you idiot,» he said, pointing to the water level.  
Gintoki stopped suddenly and rubbed his neck, his expression detached and indifferent again, but definitely more lucid.  
  
They had been silent for almost half an hour now, but neither of them seemed willing to start speaking. They simply laid on the river bank, idly watching the sky. In the end, it was Katsura who stepped forward. «I heard you were captured during the purge at the end of the war. There were leaflets all over Edo, they wanted to make sure we all knew.»  
«I surrendered,» Gin merely replied.  
The other nodded. «I imagined that, no one in their right mind could believe that a handful of Hitotsubashi had managed to capture the Shiroyasha so easily,» he commented, pretending not to see Gintoki stiffen at the sound of that name.  
The wind moved the grass around them. If it were not possible to hear the sounds of the city in the distance, they could have thought they were in another place, at another time, when everything was simpler.  
«It was I who told the jōi not to free you» Katsura continued. «Some of the rebels heard of your imprisonment and wanted to intervene. I stopped them, it would have been a bloodbath and your sacrifice would have been pointless.»

«Yeah. Getting beheaded for nothing would have been a nuisance,» Gintoki agreed. «So you told your comrades to keep a low profile, to hide and wait until the situation had calmed down, until it was possible to resume fighting. Even if in a less direct way.»  
«Operations are starting up again,» Zura confirmed. « Join us, help us overthrow the bakufu.»  
«We've already tried to oppose the government, remember? It didn't go so well,» the other answered with a blank expression.  
The jōi snorted. « We weren't fighting the government at the time. Our mission was very different from what I remember.»  
«It's not a good precedent anyway.»  
Katsura glanced at his former comrade and sighed. They were going to talk about it then. After all it was right, he hadn't really believed that they could ignore the elephant in the room.  
«He made you promise, didn't he?» Katsura asked him point blank, out of the corner of his eye he saw Gin nod and then went on. «Typical of Shōyō to make such requests without letting the others know,» he commented, smiling slightly.  
Gintoki stiffened. « _He_ asked me to protect Shōyō in case he died, but I couldn't do it. I had already given my word to sensei, I couldn't...»  
Zura nodded, understanding who Gin was referring to. «Now that I think about it, it was really obvious. I guess none of us were in the right state of mind to understand the feelings and motivations of the others at the time.»  
The young man felt the samurai relax. He had been tense until that moment, probably thinking that Katsura still hated him for what had happened. He couldn't blame Gintoki for that, given how things had turned out. More than once the ronin had tought about that day and wondered how he would have acted in Gin's place... the truth was, he didn't know. He did not know if he would be able to choose or if all four of them would have died on that cliff due to his indecisiveness, but above all he did not know if he would be able to come to terms with his actions later.  
«After we separated» again the nervousness and tension stiffened the muscles of the former comrade, « what happened? Before you turned yourself in, I mean.»  
Gin seemed to understand the implications of the question. « I travelled on my own for a while, I had to stay alone to clear my mind. Eventually I joined a group of rebels. That's where Tatsuma found me» he paused. Of course, Sakamoto... if anyone was able to get one of them to react, it was him. «When we parted ways, he left the planet and I turned myself in.»  
«I understand. It seems Sakamoto was much more helpful than me and Takasugi, huh?»  
Silence fell again between the two for a few minutes.  
«Are you sure you don't want to join us, Gintoki? There is still a lot to do in this country.»  
«No, Zura, I'm done. I do odd jobs now.»  
The black-haired man sat up. « Odd Jobs?» he put on a sly expression. «Then...»  
«Don't try it,» Gintoki stopped him immediately, with an annoyed look, trying to hide the relief at having discovered that besides Sakamoto another of his friends didn't really hate him. «I can refuse customers.»  
Katsura looked at him with a defiant expression. «You are underestimating my determination, Shiroyasha. If you think it will be so easy to make me give up, you are a fool,» he said, standing up and turning his back to him. «You'll hear from me again, you'll give in one day,» he insisted waving at him without turning.

Back at the headquarters, the Rampaging Noble was surrounded by his subordinates. «Where have you been? You disappeared without saying a word, we-»  
Katsura raised a hand to stop them. «I was patrolling the streets of Edo, we must always be vigilant.» _Moreover, I met an old friend I can annoy from time to time_ , he thought, taking one last look towards the river before closing the door.  
Meanwhile, on the river bank, Gintoki was still watching the clouds, smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the timeline we rely on, taken from canon references and adapted a little bit (based on Gintoki's age):  
> \- 8 years old: Gintoki is found by Shōyō  
> \- 10/11 y.o.: Takasugi and Katsura arrive at Shōka Sonjuku  
> \- 16/17 y.o.: Shōyō is captured and the boys go to war  
> \- 21 y.o.: Shōyō's death, jōi4's separation, Gintoki surrenders himself to the Hitotsubashi  
> \- 22 y.o.: Gintoki settles in Kabuki-chō  
> \- 27 y.o.: he meets Shinpachi and Kagura  
> \- 30 y.o.: war against the liberation army  
> \- 32 y.o.: after time-skip  
> \- 34 y.o.: epilogue of the manga


End file.
